THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AN ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS A VARIOUS POLICIES AFFECTING THE U.S. BEEF CATTLE SECTOR. GROWING BEEF CATTLE IS A DYNAMIC PROCESS THAT FOLLOWS CYCLES THAT LAST ABOUT 11 YEARS. HOWEVER, ECONOMICMODELS CURRENTLY USED TO EVALUATE BEEF CATTLE POLICIES ARE STATIC, MEANING THAT THEY IGNORE CATTLE CYCLES, AND FOR THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES. OUR REGIONAL DYNAMIC MODEL WILL YIELD MORE ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF POLICIES AFFECTING THE BEEF CATTLE SECTOR, AND HOW THESE IMPACTS VARY OVER TIME AND ACROSS REGIONS. WE WILL CALIBRATE THE MODEL TO RECENTLY OBSERVED PRICES AND QUANTITIES FROM DATA PUBLISHED BY THE USDA. THE PROJECTWILL EXPLOITRECENTLY DEVELOPED NUMERICAL METHODS TO CONSTRUCT A MODEL THAT BEST CAPTURES REGIONALITY, DYNAMICS AND THE ECONONMICS OF THE US CATTLE SECTOR. THE MODEL WILL ALLOW FOR BETTER ECONOMIC ANALAYSIS OF POLICIES SUCH AS THOSE THAT LIMIT CATTLE MOVEMENTS IN THE EVENT OF THE DISCOVERY OF FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE.THIS WORK WILL HELP FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL POLICYMAKERS IN THE DESIGN OF POLICIES THAT MAXIMIZE GAINS TO SOCIETY AT THE LOWEST COSTS.